Finished business ?
by Fenella Church
Summary: 2011 and Alex Drake is a hard bitten DCI still working in the Met. When documentary maker Jacob Kennedy questions her about the legendary Gene Hunt she decides to put the record straight. Shortish oneshot.


**Finished business**

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**2011**

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**Little oneshot here, don't know why but I felt a bit soppy yesterday and this is the result.**

**Ashes doesn't belong to me and never will, any mistakes and inconsistencies are mine.**

'Ask Drake, she knew him.' the desk sergeant stifled a yawn.

'Am I keeping you up?' Jacob Kennedy asked with undisguised sarcasm, 'DCI Drake you mean?'

The desk sergeant unwrapped a Penguin and surveyed it momentarily before taking a bite, 'Only Alex Drake I know.' he mumbled with his mouth full. He watched Kennedy take off up the corridor towards CID, 'Pillock!' he spat a few Penguin crumbs over his desk and brushed them away hastily. 'She won't tell you anything' he sniggered.

Jacob arrived in CID and headed to the DCI's office. He felt a little apprehensive, Drake had a reputation, people were wary of her, one broken marriage and her work was her life. He straightened his Armani tie before knocking.

'Come in!' he heard her voice; it was authoritative and slightly plumy. Yeah that's right, she was posh, he remembered, he'd seen her being interviewed on the news; she wouldn't have time for a wide boy programme maker from an obscure digital TV channel. He walked in with his hand outstretched. First impressions were everything, he knew that. He looked at her, tall and slim with huge slightly sad eyes and a cloud of brunette hair.

'Yes?' she looked him up and down before grasping his hand briefly.

'I'm Jacob Kennedy and I'm making a programme about the history of the Met' he explained, 'I'm interested in a guy named Gene Hunt, the desk sergeant said you knew him, but I'm thinking he must have been mistaken, you're too young to have known him surely?'

He was slightly taken aback by the woman's reaction. From being the epitome of cool calm collectiveness, she suddenly appeared flustered and had to sit down rather quickly. 'Gene' she whispered, 'yes I knew him.'

'You must have been a child.' probed Jacob, 'His career ended when? 1987?'

'Something likes that.' Alex replied quietly, she placed both hands on her desk and studied them as if she'd never seen them before, 'I was a child when we first met. My parents…...' she looked up at Jacob, 'No, I'm sorry, I can't talk about it.'

'I understand.' Jacob smiled. 'It's a shame though, a chance to put the record straight. Gene Hunt left a terrible legacy of corruption, it can't all have been him, the deeper I dig, the more I wonder if he was the fall guy.'

'That's twice you've described him as a 'guy'' Alex seemed to have recovered slightly, her voice was suddenly confident again, 'He wouldn't have liked that.'

'You must have been an intuitive child.' Jacob said.

'Yes I was.' Alex replied.

'Do you know what happened to him, why he disappeared?' Jacob persisted.

'Yes I do, but it's not for public consumption.' Alex said.

Jacob nodded again, 'Please Ms Drake, I will treat any information you feel able to impart respectfully.'

'Don't think so.' Alex said.

'Ok, looks like plan b then.' Jacob looked regretful.

'Plan B?' she asked.

'What's known in the business as a hatchet job.' Jacob said, watching her wince, 'What we don't know can be filled in colourfully with hearsay, speculation….'

'Lies, Defamation!' protested Alex, 'this is blackmail Mr Kennedy' she sighed deeply, and frowned, 'Alright, I'll tell you the truth about Gene Hunt, but only if you transfer it verbatim to your documentary.'

Jacob smiled broadly , barely able to believe his luck. 'Of course.'

Alex stood up and walked to a filing cabinet, she took out a bottle of scotch and a cut glass tumbler; pouring herself a drink and not offering Jacob one, she was about to push back the filing cabinet drawer when she stopped and dipped her hand in, pulling out a manila envelope.

She sat at the desk and took a sip of the scotch, then she reached into the envelope and took out a photo of a tall blond man who looked more than a little cross. 'Gene' she told Jacob.

' I've seen photos of him, not this one though, could I use it?' Jacob studied the photo.

'Yes if you like, I'll email you a copy.' Alex agreed, she sipped more of her scotch, and fixed her hazel eyes on Jacob, 'Now are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. I met Gene Hunt when my parents were killed in a car bomb incident, I was eight years old. He was there at the scene, scooped me up in his arms and carried me away from the horror. He brought me here, to this station, Fenchurch East as it was known then. He was a good kind decent man, and the second he lifted me into his arms I felt safe, he made me feel that maybe my world hadn't suddenly ended. My godfather came to the station and begged Gene to save my feelings, not to let me know why my parents had died, I found out later of course, but not then. There was a woman there at the time, a police officer, as you remarked Mr Kennedy, I was an intuitive child, I could see that Gene loved this woman, and I could also tell she was somehow in grave danger. But I knew she would be safe because Gene would be there to look after her. And he did, he saved her in every way a person could be saved….'

'Hang on, you nicked that from Titanic.' snorted Jacob.

'Maybe I did, or maybe it's just the way of all great heroes, that's what they do. Jack did it for Rose, Gene did it for…..this woman.'

Jacob was shocked to hear DCI Drake's voice crack with emotion.

'He could have been selfish.' Alex went on, 'He loved her but he hid it from her, because he knew that she, this woman had a daughter that she needed to get back to, so after a few years of watching her back, and saving her in much the same way as he had saved me, he let her go, he made it possible for her to go back to her daughter, even though he knew there'd be consequences, that he would be accused of all sorts of falsehoods, including her murder. He knew all that but he still loved her too much not to give her what she thought she wanted…' Alex stood up and poured more scotch.

'Did she love him?' Jacob asked.

'Very much.' Alex nodded.

'But why couldn't she have had both?' Jacob frowned. 'Why couldn't she have had Hunt and her daughter?'

'The timing was all wrong, and there was a shooting accident.' Alex said sadly. 'My godfather helped him when he stood trial, and managed to get him off the charge of attempted murder, so I saw him when he came to the house. He was still my hero, even though he was… less ebullient, I loved the times when he came see my godfather, he even came occasionally after the trial was over; he'd read to me and add violent bits to the stories because he said they were crap and too girly ' she smiled as she reminisced 'Ever read "Five go on an Armed Blag" Mr Kennedy? Or "The Lion, the Witch and the Scumbag" ? Thought not.' her eyes sparkled and Kennedy felt his heart jump, Christ this woman was attractive , why did she have the reputation of being a dried up old prune?

Alex continued, suddenly looking sad again, '"Bye little lady" he'd say when he left, then one day he came and said he was leaving the force because his heart wasn't in it anymore, he missed the woman too much. My godfather couldn't believe it, he asked him what the hell he would do with his time.'

'What did he say?' Jacob asked.

'He said he'd be fine, he was going to the pub.' Alex sniffed. 'He didn't come back again. My godfather said they invented all that corruption stuff to taint his memory. He knew everything there was to know about Gene after representing him, and he said he was a rough diamond, but he hadn't an ounce of corruption in his body. There was corruption in the force, it was rife, have you researched Superintendent Charles Mackintosh ? Plenty of material there '

'Yes, I've heard of him…But Gene Hunt… I don't understand, are you actually saying he shot the woman, 'that woman'' Jacob frowned, 'I mean how the hell was that saving her?'

'I don't know, I can only tell you what my godfather told me, it was an accident apparently he was aiming for someone else and the woman got in the way, maybe she was suffering from some sort of amnesia, and after she was shot it brought her memory back, I didn't ask, I was a child and more interested in why he was leaving and wasn't going to be reading to me anymore, I suppose I was selfish as well as intuitive .' Alex drained her glass. 'That's about it Mr Kennedy- remember verbatim ? '

Kennedy nodded, 'Well it's been interesting , I've learned more than I thought I would. What made you decide to join the Met by the way?'

'Gene Hunt made me decide.' Alex said. 'If I can be half the copper he was then I'll be happy.'

'I'll let you know when the show goes out.' Jacob said, sliding over his business card, 'Be grateful if you'd email that photo too.'

Alex nodded.

When he'd gone she studied the photo for a long, long time. She picked it up, held it to her face and kissed it. 'Hope I did you proud' she whispered, feeling tears on her cheeks, 'I'll be coming to the pub one day, and I'm counting on you being there waiting for me.'

.

The History of the Met was a success for Jacob Kennedy, it led to work with the BBC and Sky TV, but he changed direction and made more paranormal documentaries after he was sent another photo of Gene Hunt by an elderly gentleman named Litton, scrawled on the back he had written, 'This was the bird who turned him soft' Jacob had looked at it time and time again. He had looked at the photo drunk and sober, in morning light and electric light, he enlarged it on his computer just to make doubly sure. There was no getting away from it. The woman in the photo, laughing and sitting on the edge of his desk with Hunt, taken in 1982 or thereabouts, was Alex Drake.

oxxo


End file.
